The Christian And The Importance Of Church Attendance

I'll desist. We're turning this morning in

our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10, Hebrews chapter 10, and

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

we're going to read from verse 19 and we'll read all the way

through to verse 31. Hebrews chapter 10 we'll read

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

from verse 19. Let's hear the word of God

reading, of course from the Authorised Version.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the

holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he

has consecrated for us through the veal, that is to say, his

flesh, and having an high priest over the House of God, let us

draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

Having our hearts sprinkle from an evil conscience, and our

bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession

of our faith without wavering. For He is faithful that

promised. Let us consider one another to

provoke unto love and to good works, not forsake in the

assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some

is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see

the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully, after

that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there

remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful

looking for of judgement and fiery indignation which shall

devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died

without mercy under two or three witnesses.

Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought

worthy? He of trodden under foot the Son

of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith

he was sanctified an unholy thing, and have done despite

unto the Spirit of grace. For we know him that have said,

Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith the

Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living

God. Amen.

We know the Lord will stamp with His own approval and blessing

this reading of His own precious and infallible word.

Now this morning, as we draw to a conclusion or series of

messages that I entitled some time ago, the Christian and

today I want to deal with the vital, important subject, the

Christian and the importance of church attendance.

Or to put it simply, to give you 3 other words to remember.

Why attend church now? You got to ask yourself that

question, why attend church now My text is taken from Hebrews

Hebrews 10:25

chapter 10 verse 25, and it reads not for seeking the

assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but

exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day

approaching. Now Hebrews chapter 1025 is a

call to be loyal to the local church.

Now remember why the Apostle Paul LED of the Holy Ghost wrote

this book of Hebrews. He was writing to early Jewish

Christians, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who were being

persecuted for their faith and as a result of that persecution,

they were tempted to turn back to Judaism.

Not only were they physically being persecuted, but they're

also being verbally taunted day by day.

Where's your temple? Where's the priesthood?

Where's your high priest? Look at that wee handful of

people with you compared to the large congregation that's in the

synagogue. So Paul, inspired by the Holy

Spirit, wrote the book to encourage God's people to get

their eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul emphasised here he told them and having an high priest

over the House of Gaunt in verse 21, we have and high priest, a

great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He bought under the guidance of the Holy Spirit took time to set

forth the absolute superiority of the Lord Jesus Christ in

relation to archangels, in relation to angels and Abraham

and Aaron and Melchizedek and so on and so forth.

He also set forth the absolute soul sufficiency of Jesus Christ

in his personal work. We have a better and a greater

sacrifice, the sacrifice of the blood shedding of the Lord Jesus

into Hebrews 10 and 12 But this man, after he'd offered one

sacrifice for sins forever sat down in the right hand of God.

And when we come to verse 19, we read this, having therefore,

brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of

Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us

through the veil, that is to say his flesh, and having a high

priest over the House of God. You see, Paul is laying the

basis and the foundation of what he has to say.

He's reminding his readers that we have the great privilege of

access to the living God through the blood of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Our access to God, our approach

is secured by the precious Blood, and He is exhorting them

and exhorting us when we come together to remember that.

We come together because Jesus Christ shed his blood on the

cross as a great high priest that gave us access to God.

He has offered that full and final sacrifice for sin.

It was once for all. The sacrifice has been accepted.

The proof is the empty tomb. Jesus Christ is ascended into

heaven as our great high Priest and presented there in the altar

the blood of sacrifice. And therefore, in light of this,

in light of this basis, having established that foundation, we

can do something. And what can we do?

Well, notice the three exhortations, verse 22.

Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of

faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil

conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

In other words, let us draw near to God and worship, and the

blood of Jesus Christ is the basis, the only basis upon which

man can worship God properly. Then he adds in verse 23, Let us

hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.

In other words, let us persevere.

Let us hold on. Let us hold fast and hold forth

our faith. Then he says in verse 24, here's

the third exhortation, and let us consider one another to

provoke unto love and to good works.

And then he adds this, look at verse 25 now not forsaking the

assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but

exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see

the day approaching. Surely it's obvious and apparent

that there were some in Paul's day who had forsook the regular

gathering of the local church for divine worship.

And that had become a real discouragement to those who

remained in the fellowship. And sadly, there were more in

the fellowship who were tempted to follow suit and out the door

and stop going. They were being persecuted and

that was hard and difficult to take.

Physical persecution, verbal persecution, emotional.

Many were losing their jobs. Many were put out of families.

Many were were were had lost their inheritance.

And yet Paul writes, he deals with a very important subject,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner

of some is, but exhorting one another.

And so much the more as you see that they approach.

He is dealing with the subject of the importance of church

attendance or the why attend church.

Now this has been a burden in my heart for some time and I want

to give you some thoughts that the Lord has put in my mind.

First of all, I want you to think of the importance of

church attendance. You see, this text over all is a

call, a clear command of God to regularly attend the Bible

believing church that is faithful to the Word of God.

Now before I really get into the heart of the subject, let me

point out I believe this is a very relevant up to date

message. I believe it's a very important

message for today. Why?

Because of the state of professing Christianity in the

21st century. What are we faced with?

Well, first of all, we're faced with the evil of declension.

I think it's obvious church attendance is declining.

Many people in the United Kingdom have stopped going to

church, and that's especially so in our Protestant, unionist,

loyalist areas. And if you want proof, think of

the number of churches that have been closed over this past year

in Belfast alone and in the greater Belfast.

It was pointed out to me by a brother from Newton Ards by the

name of Jim some time ago as he sat in the Schenkel Historical

Society, that only one in 100 regularly attend any church in

the greater Schenkel area. And what is true of the great

Shankill area that's known as a bastion of the loyalist

Protestant people is also something had been repeated in

many different places throughout the United Kingdom.

Here's the importance of attending church because we're

facing the evil of declension. We're also facing the evil of

individualism. See, people tell us it's my

life, it's my business. Nobody's going to tell me what

to do. I'm the boss.

I go it alone. I don't have to go to church

unless I want to. I can meet God at home at any

time on the own if I want to. I could read a book, I could

read the Bible. I could listen to a sermon on

the Internet or on TVI don't need the church.

I don't need to be in a church meeting.

I want to tell you, you see people that talk like that.

I want to make it abundantly clear God is not speaking either

to them or through them from their own mouth and in their own

mind. It is the devil at work.

It's a true indication of the state of their heart.

For someone to say nobody will tell me how to live.

It's exactly in the time of the judges.

Every man did that which is right in his own eyes.

He's ignoring this call and this command to publicly attend the

local church. Here's another evil, the evil of

consumerism. There's many people today in the

21st century, and this is their mindset in relation to church.

I'm going to shop around for a church, one that I find that

meets my felt needs, a church that's pleasing to me.

You see, it's all about me. It's not about the master, it's

all about me. And sadly the evangelical church

today has begun for has done for many years to cater for what

people want. And we live in an age when

people have forgotten what the church is.

The church is not a club. The church is not a social

community hub. It is not merely young people

for hatching and matching and dispatching.

What does that mean? It means that some people only

use the church in the day that they're born, on the day they

get married and on the day they die.

This is how thousands of professing Christians see the

church in the United Kingdom. It's a sort of a club, it's a

social centre, it's a community hub.

And for many evangelical churches then what they get,

because that's how the church is viewed as a very soft gospel

message and they're told maybe it will, all you need is Jesus.

But it's never explained who he is or what he's like or what

he's done and what is absent. There is a clear presentation of

the whole council of God regarding the person and work of

Christ as we man on Sunday Row in the late Ernie Patterson's

day used to say this. Then he forget the church.

And I repeat that. Then he forget the church.

The church is an important institution and it's being

ignored and it's being undermined.

Now let me put in a caveat here because I've talked about the

evil of declension. We've talked about the evil of

consumerism, the evil of individualism.

But let me put in a caveat. If you're sick at home when

you've got a fever or you're disabled or you're seriously ill

and you physically can't be here or be in the House of God,

although in your heart you would love to be in attendance, but

you can't physically come, then you have a good reason to be

absent. It's perfectly understandable.

The Lord knows, the Lord cares, the Lord loves.

Let me give you another caveat here.

There's those that can't be here because of work.

It's often times the nature of work, especially legitimate jobs

when it comes to the Lord's Day. Let me give you another caveat.

Distance. We, we have people tuning in

this morning hundreds of miles away, and you're very welcome.

You join us online because physically you couldn't be here.

Maybe you're even living closer to the church, not 100 miles

away, but you don't have a car and you don't have a bus and

it's too far to walk. Or maybe you're on a family

break. The Bible says come you apart

and rest away. That was the Lord Jesus advice

to his disciples and those in holiday.

I know you do you aim to worship God where you're at in the Lords

day. You faithfully attend another

Church of you here in Northern Ireland and you have this

mindset of faithful church attendance.

So I put it in the caveat, if you're ill, if you're working,

if you're in a family break or because of distance you can't

physically get to a faithful Bible believing church, then the

Lord knows that and the Lord understands.

But faithful church attendance simply means this.

Nothing will keep those that are adherents and those that are

members of a local church from public worship in the Lord's

Day, except for these legitimate reasons that I've suggested

being sick, work distance, a family holiday.

There's another thing I want to stress is this.

Church attendance is only really beneficial if the church is

attended as being faithful to the gospel.

See, I have a burden in my heart and I'm going to tell you what

it is. There's many churches in

Northern Ireland and they're not faithful to the gospel.

And that's true in the United Kingdom.

In the pulpit, you've got false preachers who don't believe the

Bible to be the inspired and errant word of God.

Some of them don't even believe in God as he's revealed in the

Holy Scriptures. They're more atheistic.

They don't believe in Jesus Christ and his person at work.

They don't believe in the blood atonement, the bodily

resurrection. They, they don't believe in the

place called heaven. They don't believe in hell.

You see, we're we're living in a day of a great apostasy and

because these men in the pulpit are not being faithful to the

gospel and because of the spirit of the age, the spirit of

Antichrist that has kept in now a spirit of Wook ISM has come

into the church. Ministers will give a sermon or

a talk and climate change a diversity quality inclusion

programme support. Let's stop the oil, support

transgender identity, support LGBT plus support seeker

sensitive. And they're wondering why the

people won't come. And I want to tell you that this

is destroying our country and it's down grading our Christian

identity. And there has to be a call for

repentance, and repentance has to start in the church, and it

starts with me and it starts with every other church leader,

including our own. And many in Protestant,

loyalist, unionist areas won't come to church.

And here's one of the reasons, because when they come, they're

not hearing a faithful gospel message.

And I know that people can tell me demographics have changed,

and they are and have. But that's no reason to abandon

the church. We've got 4 million Muslims

living in the United Kingdom. 25% of them identify with jihad,

a holy war against the West, against Bible, believe in

Christianity, and they want to go and worship Allah.

And if a Presbyterian or a Church of Ireland or a Methodist

Church closes, or even a Free Presbyterian Church for that

matter, they would want to buy it and they would go on their

Friday and they would have their place full of young men and then

at another place, young women. You see I say to the clergy in

Northern Ireland this morning and I say in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ, the soul head and king of the church, you need

to repent before God and you need to restore the gospel and

you need to rediscover the doctrine of salvation, the five

solas out of the Reformation, you need to preach them in the

power of the Spirit. See the Gospels, the answers.

And that's what Paul said. Listen to Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

He says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's

the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to

the Jew 1st and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to

faith as it is written. The just shall live by faith.

I would want to keep the church open.

I would want to keep the lights on.

I know that there's many small churches like our own, and we're

struggling, and we're seeking to be faithful in our worship, and

we're seeking to be faithful to the person and we're afraid.

We're seeking to defend the gospel.

And I know we're many older people, and I thank the Lord for

the young people that are here. And I know that some young

people want to be involved in that which is trendy and that

which is new and that which is modern.

And I understand that, and I'm not opposed to change, But one

thing that cannot change is the gospel.

The gospel transcends time. The gospel is the power of God

unto salvation. And what is the church for?

It's a hospital for six souls so that souls can commend that are

dead, souls that can be resurrected.

Souls can see with the Spirit of God.

Souls can hear the word of God. Now that's the importance of

attending the local church that has taken me all that time, but

I pray the Lord will underscore that.

I want you to think secondly, as you look at our text, the

instruction for church attendance, see if you look very

carefully at Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, you'll see that it's a

Hebrews 10:25

biblical command. Churches attendance is

essential. It's necessary.

Why? Because God has commanded it,

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.

Notice what we're not to do. We're not to forsake the

assembling of ourselves together.

That is, we're not to for seek the House of God and the day of

God, to worship the true and living God and hear the word of

God. We must aim to be loyal.

We must aim to be faithful. We must aim to be true and many

are not faithful like in Paul's day.

This is what Paul says, not forsaking the assembling of

herself together as the manner of some is some have already

left. They've stopped attending, and

they've stopped attending primarily in Paul's day because

of intense persecution, stopped attending perhaps for some of

the other reasons that I have given.

There could be others. Why go to church?

I appreciate you that come and you come faithfully, young and

old alike. But what is the real reason?

Why go to church? Well, well, I believe because in

the heart of the individual there's a burning desire to be

there. The heart and mind is filled

with that desire, and that desire has come out of the new

birth. 2nd Corinthians 517 of any man.

Be in Christ as your new creature.

Old things have passed away and all things have become new and

all things are of God. That desire to come to worship

on the day of God flows out of a changed heart.

That desire pushes them to crave the worship of God, to crave the

word of God. Think of a baby craving milk,

craving food. Little granddaughter was with me

on Thursday and she's saying to me, I'm hungry.

Granddad, what was she doing? She was just craving food.

And when we have a desire that craves for food, that will make

us speak out and cry out, as you, born Biebs, desire the

sincere milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby a soul

thirsting for God. And that desire for God will

lead to a devotion, And that desire and devotion together

will lead to faithful church attendance, because our aim will

be to please and glorify God. Remember what the psalmist said

there in Psalm 42. As the heart punteth after the

water brook, so punteth my soul after Thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?

Psalmist couldn't wait for the Sabbath day to be in the House

of God with the people of God to worship the living in the true

God. Psalm 7325 says, whom have I in

heaven but thee? Verse 25, Psalm 73, verse 25.

Psalms 73:25

And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

My flesh and my heart feeleth, but God is the strength of my

heart and my portion forever. Catechism asked the question,

what is man's chief end? And the answer of course is

man's chief end is to dorify God and enjoy him forever.

Wasn't it the apostle Paul that emphasised to the Corinthian

church in First Corinthians? In chapter 10 and verse 31, he

said this very important statement. 1st Corinthians 10

and 31 whatsoever, whether therefore you eat or drink or

whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

And I asked the question in the instruction for church

attendance. If it's a biblical command and

we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves

together, and this biblical command will be rooted in a

desire that will lead to devotion, that will lead to our

duty, then here's the question. If we aren't created for the

purpose of worshipping and glorifying God as Creator, have

we a desire for this command? Are we devoted to this command?

Do we see it as our duty and responsibility?

I am not going to neglect the assembling together with God's

people on the Lord's Day. Notice what we are to do

assembling of ourselves together.

That's a clear reference to the gathering of God's people

professing believers for to worship God, to gather in a

local geographical place. The word refers to the regular

scheduled meetings of the local church, the Lord's Day services.

It's wide enough to include the prayer meetings.

It's wide enough to include the Bible study.

We have three prayer meetings in the church, morning and evening

and the Lord's Day, and a Wednesday night, a Bible study

on Wednesday. And that has been the practise

of the early church. Down the ages, believers have

gathered with other believers in order to worship God, to pray

together, to read the scriptures, to sing prayers, to

hear God's word, to give their tithes and offering, and to

receive the sacraments. You see, this idea of practising

worship, I go it alone. This individualistic idea of me

and God, this idea of desertion and consumerism, it's foreign to

the Bible. The word assembly here is very

important. It means to congregate.

In fact it's been used congregation in another place in

the book of Acts and we congregate for a purpose.

God calls his people to assemble together on the House of God and

the day of God to hear the word of God and the worship of God.

And it brings glory to God. It honours him.

And for those who say well I don't need God, and for those

who say well I can worship at home, it's not scriptural.

We are to assemble together. That was the practise of the

early church. Remember in the book of Acts and

Acts chapter 2 and in the verse 42.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Remember what we read there, the 3000 that were converted on the

day of Pentecost, it says. And they continued steadfastly

in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and the breaking of

bread and in prayers. Let me give you an illustration.

Suppose I wanted to light a fire, what would I need?

Would need paper. I would need then some

firelighters, few wee sticks, a box of matches.

I would need some coal. I would need some logs, maybe

even some peat. I would have to clean out the

grate, and I would clean out the grate first, and then I would

assemble all of that material together before I would strike

the match. All of those come together to

light a fire. And suppose after the fire's lit

and burning hot, I take a tongue and I take a piece of coal out

of the fire, set it on the hearth.

How quickly it cools down. Over time it gets cooler and

cooler. Eventually it loses heat.

It's warmth, it smokes, it's hot, and then it's cold.

And I want to tell you this morning that there are thousands

upon thousands of professing Christians who have lost their

sensible longing, lost a sense of identity, lost a sense of

community because of their neglect on the Lord's Day in

attendance, the House of God out of their soul, even though they

professed the name of Christ. The heat has evaporated, they

have grown cold there. There's a carnality is set in,

there's a carelessness is set in, there's a corruption that is

set in. They have no desire.

They have no devotion. They have no sense of duty.

The fervency and passion and vision for eternal things is

gone. They've lost their identity and

their loyalty to Christ. I urge you to show your loyalty

to Christ. Here's a clear biblical command.

Why attend church? It's essentially commanded.

I want you to see very quickly it's a beneficial command.

If you look again at our text, but exhorting one another one

another's in italics, the the word exhorting here is the word

encouragement. This was the practise of the

early church. Here was the pattern they

gathered for worship because it was essentially commanded by

God. But when they gathered for

worship, they realised that they not only had a responsibility

towards the local church, but they had a responsibility

towards one another. As they gathered together with

one another, they were exhorting and encouraging one another by

their presence and by their words and by their prayers.

Don't be inconsiderate, don't be inconsistent, don't have a

failure in her heart and mind to consider others.

Remember, he said, and let us consider one another to provoke

unto love and the good works. How do you do that?

By being present on the Lord's Day in the House of God.

And remember the context here. These dear people were facing

persecution, intense pressure from family and friends.

They they were being forced to consider a sense of

embarrassment by the smallness of numbers in the early church

in the congregation, comparison to the large numbers in the

synagogue. But I want to say numbers are

not an indication of great blessing from God.

You only have to think of the mega church.

Often times the true church can be small, and I'm aware of that

and I know that that impacts upon the heart of many.

And if that is true, then all the more so.

We need to encourage one another because it's a beneficial

command. If you faithfully attend, you

will encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ.

As I've said, the the church is a hospital for sick people.

The the church is God's chief instrument through which he

meets with and blesses his people.

Remember the Lord Jesus, Matthew chapter 18, verse 20, where two

Matthew 18:20

or three are gathered together in my name.

They are my in the midst. He's in the midst.

The local church is his body. It's true of the universal

church. It's a coming together of parts

of the body of Christ and we're to strengthen and encourage and

exhort one another. And therefore each member is

essential as each member of the body is essential.

Each member has a a gift that they can contribute for, for the

well-being of others. It's an act of love not only to

God, but an act of love to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

And of course, together we hear the word of God.

And that's the main aspect of worship, isn't it?

Romans 10/17 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word

of God. It's not a club to be

entertained. It's not a place for our we

motivational speech. It's not a place where the

community comes together and just have a yarn and a laugh.

We're commanded to preach the word.

And to those who say, but the church is small and to those who

say, well, I need a Family Day, do not put family about worship.

And for those who say I need a pleasure day, whether it's an

Enniskillen or somewhere else, well, don't put pleasure above

the worship of God. And even for those who say,

well, I have to work every Sunday, you don't.

It's not the law. You only have to work one Sunday

at a four. Do not put business or work

above the worship of God. Many have got complacent.

Many have become spiritually lazy.

We need to be distinct. We need to think about what sort

of church people want, and I believe the church that they

need is a church that is proclaiming and is faithful to

the Word of God. And if we love the Word of God

and God's Son and God's gospel, then we will not be happy until

we find a meeting place where the gospel is faithfully

preached, where they're faithful to the blood and sacrifice of

Christ, where there's a clear call for repentance and faith.

That's the primary reason. It's not only commanded by God,

it's for a beneficial purpose, exhorting one another so much in

that word. I want to tell you it's also of

as a because command. If you look again at our text,

but so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Here's another reason not only for exhorting one another, but

so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Now what day is that? Well, it's the last days.

We're living in the last days. The last day is approaching and

we're being exhorted here to think about that.

Remember, the Lord Jesus has led by example.

We follow in his steps. He went to the synagogue

faithfully in his day and generation.

The incentive for church attendance as we finish, as you

see the day approaching, the second coming of Christ, the day

of Christ's return, the day when I lush her in a day of judgement

and a day of salvation. Matthew chapter 24 says because

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

iniquity shall abound the love of man, he shall wax cold.

Many have become careless, complacent, cold hearted.

Many are full of complaints. Many are full of a a spurt of

bitterness. They've got many grapes and

they've forgotten that their great need is to show love and

loyalty to Christ first and foremost.

Paul didn't just mention the day.

He says much more as you see the day approaching.

The day hasn't come yet, but the day is coming.

Day of opposition, a day when things will get worse, a day

when there's an increase in wickedness.

And, and he's really saying there's an urgency here.

We need this more now than ever. The sensible longing, this

display of loyalty to to Christ out of love that this, this

sense of community, this sense of identity, we need each other

and therefore stay with Christ, stay with the gospel, stay with

God's people. That's the incentive for church

attendance. I trust this morning.

And I have to be honest, I feel I've only scratched the surface

here and what I have shared, but I pray that what I have brought

to you will help you to think of the question, why attend church?

The primary reason is because it's commanded by God.

It's beneficial for you and the well-being of your brothers and

sisters in Christ. And it's because of this day

that's approaching whenever Christ returns.

Or stand before God and give an account.

Imagine the save you're saying. Why did you not attend a

faithful Bible believing church to see if you're examining you

as a professing Christian and asking for reasons?

Your mouth is closed and you have none to say.

That's what Paul means. That day's approaching.

It's a day of opposition, but it's also a day of examination.

That's the incentive for church attendance.

The Lord bless you.